When is it the Right Time to Promote Employees?

Jean SchaakPosted on 9th April 2018

Who, When and Why?

As job hopping increases, promoting star employees at the right time is becoming more important than ever, if you want to retain them that is. When an employee feels they have given everything they have to the role and are not moving forward they will very likely choose to move on to the next organization that will give them that opportunity instead. However, you don’t want to promote too early because you can overwhelm them with the added responsibility before they are ready for it causing extra stress and tension.

Therefore, as the owner or manager of your organization, monitor your employees carefully and look out for star qualities and behaviours. When the right time comes, you will know exactly when to promote them.

Promotion is key

Essentially, the act of promoting a person is the biggest sign of appreciation you can give them. You are showing someone that you have taken note of their efforts and hard work and want to see them grow and develop. This is a huge boost to morale and will increase their overall motivation and productivity.

The value felt by employees in this situation should never be underestimated or taken for granted. It also develops a competitive spirit within the workplace and encourages ambition. Through a promotion, everyone can see for themselves that hard work pays off and you will move forward if you put in the effort.

Which employees are ready for their promotion?

This is not about perfect employees. No one is perfect. This is about those employees that stand out of the crowd. Are these traits familiar to any of your employees?

Highly committed to their work, they see the company’s success as their own success and genuinely want it to succeed.

Self-motivated and always seeking the next challenge to conquer.

They excel beyond expectation and do more than they are asked. They go the extra mile on their own initiative.

Natural leaders, both of projects and of people, making them naturally respected by their colleagues.

Positive people that have a positive effect in the workspace. Just like negativity spreads like wildfire, so does positivity. Optimists bring energy to the room, pessimists drain it away. Look out for those optimists.

They take ownership and challenge the status quo even if it means telling the boss what they don’t want to hear. It takes bravery and a strong belief in the vision to do so.

They’ve mastered their job, this is a clear sign that they are ready for new challenges. In fact, this is probably the most important time to give them a promotion because if they cannot take their skills to their next level in your company, rest assured they will look for it elsewhere.

They put the team’s best interest ahead of their own personal interest. Getting a promotion is not only a personal achievement but also the willingness to take on more responsibility for the company and their team.

They are self-aware and adaptive to different situations.

Ultimately, from the traits and characteristics mentioned above, the right employees to promote are those with the right attitude, mentality and work ethic. They are not necessarily those who have been in their positions longest. The longest standing employees should certainly be rewarded for their loyalty but they are not necessarily the best people for the promotion.

Time in a position is useless if their attitude towards their work and their team is not in the right place. They may be experts at their job but are they leaders? Do they lead by example? Are they humble or arrogant?

These are definitely things to consider before promoting employees because the wrong promotion can result in the loss of a key employee who should have been given the promotion instead and this could have an immense impact on operations.

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